Grasso, Ella Tambussi

Grasso, Ella Tambussi tămbyo͞oˈsē [key], 1919–81, U.S. politician, governor of Connecticut (1975–80), b. Windsor Locks, Conn. A Democrat, she was elected to the Connecticut legislature in 1952 and served (1958–70) as secretary of the state. In 1970 she won election to the U.S. House of Representatives, and in 1974 she won the Connecticut gubernatorial election. She was the first woman to become governor of a state without achieving that office on the political coattails of her husband.

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